imamate

[ih-mah-meyt]

noun

1. the office of an imam.

2. the region or territory governed by an imam.

imamate

/ ɪˈmɑːmeɪt /

noun

1. the region or territory governed by an imam

2. the office, rank, or period of office of an imam

Word History and Origins

Origin of imamate¹

First recorded in 1720–30; imam + -ate ³

Example Sentences

For more than 1,000 years they ruled a state — called an imamate — that covered what is now northern Yemen.

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In 2004, Saleh accused Houthi of numerous crimes — setting up unlicensed religious centers, seeking to restore the imamate and being part of a foreign terror network — and launched what was supposed to be a simple arrest operation.

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“It didn’t want any mention of an ‘imamate.’

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After the monarchy, known as the Imamate, was overthrown in a 1962 revolution, the Houthis and their fellow Sayyids were cast down from their perch and reviled as a backward, antidemocratic group.

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Their aim was to stop the northern imamate, which followed a Shia version of Islam known as Zaydi, from encroaching.

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